Hasnah Hashim, 55, who abused maid, pulled off her headscarf in lift, given jail and ordered to pay compensation

[Nut]

Woman who abused maid, pulled off her headscarf in lift, given jail and ordered to pay compensation​

Hasnah Hashim was incensed after the maid pressed the button to close the lift doors as she was entering the lift.

A view of the State Courts building in Singapore.

Koh Wan Ting
03 Jun 2026 01:12PM

SINGAPORE: A woman who pulled off her domestic helper's headscarf while in a lift was handed a four-month jail term and ordered to pay S$5,000 (US$3,900) in compensation on Wednesday (Jun 3).

Hasnah Hashim, 55, also slapped the 32-year-old Indonesian woman on a separate occasion.

The Singaporean pleaded guilty to two out of five counts of causing hurt, with the remaining charges taken into consideration for her sentencing.

Hasnah had been the employer of the victim at the time of the offences in August 2024.

On Aug 23, 2024, Hasnah and the victim left for the market in the morning and returned at about 7.23am.

As the victim reached the ground-floor lobby, she entered the lift and pressed the button to close the doors just as Hasnah was entering.

Hasnah managed to hold the lift doors open and enter, but was incensed by the victim's actions and grabbed her headscarf with both hands, pulling it down forcefully.

"In the process, the accused pulled the victim's hair, causing her to suffer bodily pain, and pulled off the victim's headscarf, causing her humiliation as she wore the headscarf for religious purposes," Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh told the court.

The incident was recorded and submitted to the court as evidence.

The victim made a police report later that day and was brought for a medical check. She was found to have a 2cm bruise on her upper lip from an earlier incident three days before, in which Hasnah had slapped the victim's face after the helper had accidentally placed a pack of tofu in the freezer.

Hasnah also hit the victim's forehead with her mobile phone, pinched her thigh and pulled and twisted her ears in separate incidents in August 2024. These offences formed the remaining charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

Due to the incident, the victim remained unemployed from Aug 23, 2024, to date, the prosecution said.

Mr Koh told the court that no prospective employer had hired her because of her involvement in the case, as her work could have been disrupted if she had been called to testify.

The helper's last-drawn salary was S$882.

Mr Koh urged the court to jail Hasnah for between four and six months and sought a compensation order of S$8,500, comprising S$1,000 for pain and suffering and compensation for her loss of earnings.

He said the victim had lost about S$18,500 in earnings after being unemployed for around 21 months. However, the prosecution sought only S$7,500 in compensation, citing a previous case in which an offender was not required to compensate a victim for the entire period of unemployment.

Hasnah's lawyer, Mr Abdul Rahman, sought three months' jail for his client, citing her remorse and asking for leniency.

The lawyer submitted references from Hasnah's previous domestic helpers, with whom she had a good relationship, to show that Hasnah had been a good employer.

Mr Abdul Rahman added that his client had forked out about S$14,600 for the victim's lodging and food during the period when she was unable to work, and asked for the court to order compensation of S$1,000 instead. However, Mr Koh argued that the victim's food and lodging expenses were separate from her loss of earnings.

Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun imposed a compensation order of S$5,000, comprising S$1,000 for suffering and S$4,000 for the loss of salary.

For voluntarily causing hurt, a person can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.

As the offences were committed against a domestic worker under her employment, Hasnah was liable to twice the maximum punishment.

 

[True Believer]

There have been many cases of Muslim employers physically abusing their Indonesian maids; aren't they supposed to be 'sisters'?

 

[True Believer]

In what prosecutors described as one of the worst cases of maid abuse, a 58-year-old employer, Zariah Mohd Ali, subjected her Indonesian helper, Khanifah, to severe physical torture over a six-month period. Zariah used a hammer to strike Khanifah's mouth, shattering her teeth. She also used a stone pestle and a bamboo pole, leaving the victim permanently disfigured.

 

[True Believer]

An 18-year-old S'porean Malay woman ripped 2 front teeth from the mouth of her Indonesian maid and poured hot wax on the woman's head. Nur Rizan Mohd Sazalli, her brother, mother and mother's friend were charged in court with hurting the 28-year-old maid Badingah and wrongfully restraining her. The abuses also included hitting the maid with an iron rod and cane, and pouring hot water on her crotch.